Serendipity
by WritingBookworm
Summary: Rolf enters a Muggle restaurant looking for a break. What he finds is so much more.


He couldn't help but sigh in relief upon entering the Muggle restaurant. As much as he loved his job as a naturalist, Rolf Scamander really did need a break.

He took a quick scan of the place. A woman was gathering her things from her table, a teenage couple was snogging in the corner and a group of men were being a little too boisterous for their own good. He hugged his observation journal closer to his chest. This wasn't his first choice, but he happened to have some Muggle money on hand.

Rolf ran a hand through his blonde hair and started toward the menu only to stop right in his tracks again. He had forgotten to write something down.

He opened his black notebook and extracted a pen that had been tucked in his ear. Some Muggle inventions were surprisingly useful. He flipped over to his latest entries and began to write while walking. _Horn from Romanian Longhorn serves as a great substitute for—_

Suddenly he ran into something hard, instinctively dropping both his pen and his book. He blinked rapidly in an attempt to recover. Once he did, he registered that he had bumped into a woman, and said woman was bending over to pick up his stuff.

Rolf froze. Oh no. He was surrounded by Muggles, and now one of them was about to see proof of the Wizarding World.

His breathing became uneven. "Um, can you please give that back, right now, I really need it—no no no, please don't do that—"

But it was too late. The woman was already inspecting the pages.

Rolf cringed and squeezed his eyes shut. He seemed to shrink a good deal. Quickly, he was going to have to come up with an excuse, anything would do—

"I see you haven't mentioned nargles. That's a shame."

…What?

He opened his eyes. His muscles trickled back into ease. That hadn't been what he was expecting.

Now relaxed, he observed the woman. Dirty blonde hair fell past her shoulders, and her smile was rather gentle. His blue locked with her grey, and before he knew it he found himself slipping away from his body and into them.

Rolf forced himself to take a step back, grounding himself in reality once more. "N-Nargles? What're those?"

"Magical creatures, of course," she said as-a-matter-of-factly. "They have a nasty habit of stealing possessions. I've been trying to find them for years now."

She flipped to the very first page of his book. "Property of Rolf Scamander," she read. "I take it that's your name?"

He nodded.

She continued to go on. "Rolf. I like that name. It's a little old-fashioned, but unique."

The compliment wove its way into his pores, making him feel quite warm. No one had ever told him that they liked his name. "Thanks. And you are?"

"Luna. Luna Lovegood."

Somewhere in his head, a lightbulb turned on. He recognized that name. She'd helped Harry Potter save the world from Voldemort, and was now a naturalist, just like him. That would also explain why she had mentioned nargles, given her notorious reputation for believing in imaginary creatures. Still, he wondered how on earth he hadn't recognized her immediately. . .

Luna gave his notebook one last look before offering it to him along with his pen. "Is the exterior, by chance, made from the hide of a Hebridean Black dragon?"

"Yeah, it is," said Rolf. "It's one of my favorite types of dragons."

"Really? I prefer the Antipodean Opaleye. I love the color of its scales, and it's not particularly aggressive."

"How about the Romanian Longhorn? I've been studying those recently."

"Oh yes, I do find those fascinating as well. Though I am a little wary of them sometimes."

Rolf chuckled. "Of course you are. It's a dragon."

Was it just him, or did Luna's smile get a little wider?

"I must get going now," she said, "but I think it would be quite nice if we started looking for creatures together." Her voice seemed even more distant than usual. "What do you think?"

"That sounds great."

Luna nodded. "All right then. I'll send a message to you." She headed toward the exit and pushed the door open. "It was very nice to meet you, Rolf."

"You too, Luna. Goodbye."

And then she was gone. Rolf's heart seemed to drop to the pit of his stomach, already missing her very deeply.

But it was okay. After all, he knew they would see each other again.

What he didn't know was the rest.


End file.
